By John O’Leary
We are now approaching the mid-point of the 2017/18 Serie A season and four of Italy’s biggest and most successful football clubs are still very much in the title race.
Juventus, champions in each of the last six years, have relinquished their dominant advantage this season – Inter Milan and Napoli are both currently above the title holders. Meanwhile, Roma are just five points off the pace but with a game in hand at the time of writing. If nothing else, the competitive nature of Serie A this campaign is helping to attract fans from all over Europe.
Over a decade ago, Italy’s top flight was widely recognized as one of the most exciting in world football but Serie A has slipped down the rankings in modern times.
This term, it is almost impossible to deny that the Scudetto race is more gripping than it has been for some time. We took a look at the three primary contenders:
Magnificent Napoli: A Joy To Watch
If you want to watch pure football, watch Napoli. In some ways, Maurizio Sarri’s men have followed the Pep Guardiola blueprint – dominating possession and pressing high up the field are two key traits crucial to their success.
Only Juventus (41) have scored more goals than Napoli (35) this campaign and Sarri’s side also have the joint-best defensive record in Serie A with just 10 goals conceded. Scoring plenty of goals whilst keeping things tight at the back is the ideal recipe for glory. Napoli’s recent history suggests that they will run out of steam at some stage and the 1-0 defeat to Juventus last time out wasn’t ideal. Watch this space though, Napoli are still well in contention.
Juventus Have The Title-Winning Experience
Massimiliano Allegri’s men have been in this position before. In the last six years, a few of Italy’s top clubs have staked their claim for the top flight title – none have prevailed. When the going gets tough, you know Juve will remain strong.Beating Napoli was crucial and that could give Allegri’s side the incentive to push on in the coming months. As of December 5, Juventus are a 5/4 shot in Serie A betting odds to win the title for the seventh year in a row.
Source: Juventus via Facebook
Defensively, they aren’t quite as reliable as they have been in years gone by but Allegri is still blessed with one of the strongest squads in world football. Juve will take some stopping if they hit top form.
Classy Inter Hungry to Get Back to the Top
Led by highly rated youngster Mauro Icardi, Inter have stormed their way to the top of the Serie A table. Scoring goals comes naturally to this Inter side and it would take a brave man to back against Luciano Spalletti’s men.
: ??Inter Milan – 39 points
: Napoli – 38 points
: Juventus – 37 points
: Roma – 34 points (one ?? ?? ??game in hand)Just five points separate the top four in Italy…
What a Serie A title race we have in store on BT Sport ? pic.twitter.com/mlMmlXpUVa
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) December 3, 2017
Only time will tell whether the Nerazzurri are the real deal or not. The San Siro giants are heading in the right direction and they should eclipse last season’s disappointing seventh placed finish at the very least.